WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) — A Walla Walla area man has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for the attempted murder of a gang member.

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reports 19-year-old Ricardo Miguel Maldonado was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder while armed with a firearm.

Jurors determined that prosecutors proved Maldonado was the shooter, or an accomplice, in the wounding of 21-year-old Diego Bante-Rivera in July.

Bante-Rivera was shot 13 times near some grain elevators about 17 miles north of Walla Walla. He remains paralyzed from the chest down.

Police say the motive for the shooting remains unclear. Maldonado has denied shooting Bante-Rivera or knowing about plans to shoot him and says he's not a gang member.

Another man who has been charged with first-degree attempted murder in the case, Leonardo Isaias Corona Venegas, remains at large.

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